elections followed in 1990, where her party won 80% of the seats. that joy quickly turned to tragedy. the military junta nullified the election and arrested aung san suu kyi. she would spend the better part of two decades under house arrest, unable even to visit her dying has been -- husband. in 1996, i recall being approached to sponsor a burma sanctions bill. sanctions were only loosened in july of this year. senator mcconnell later became one of aung san suu kyi's chief advocates in the senate and we continued to work on behalf of the people in burma. in 2003, following an assassination attempt, senator mcconnell and i worked to pass an important and that remains in place today, an effort to bring about further reform. and i must say, burma is extremely lucky to have a champion mike aung san suu kyi. in the face of violence, harassment, intimidation, she has never wavered in her pursuit of human rights. she celebrates the release of political prisoners, including the approximately 90 released this week, but she remains true to those still behind